McMahon saw the tremendous potential for growth that the pro wrestling industry had in the era following World War II, especially with the development of television and its insatiable need for new programming. Similar to boxing, wrestling took place primarily within a small ring and could be covered adequately by one or two cameras, and venues for it could readily be assembled in television studios, lessening production costs.

McMahon's group, the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (he later renamed the group the WWWF World Wide Wrestling Federation) came to dominate professional wrestling in the 1950s and 1960s in the nation's most populous area, the Northeast. His control was primarily in Baltimore, New York, and New Jersey.[3] (Despite its name, the WWWF was, like all pro wrestling promotions of its time, mostly a regional operation. It was however the one that came to dominate the most lucrative region).

In 1955, McMahon began airing his matches on television on Wednesday nights on the DuMont Network. The telecast originated from an old barn in Washington, D.C. It was one of the struggling network's last live sports telecasts before it went out of business the following year; however, WABD, DuMont's flagship station in New York (Now Fox-owned WNYW), kept the show after becoming an independent station, airing wrestling on Saturday nights until 1971.

In her biography, wrestler The Fabulous Moolah claimed that McMahon was one of the first promoters to split gate proceeds with his wrestlers.[4]

In 1982, McMahon sold the parent company of the then-WWF (having been rechristened the World Wrestling Federation) to his son Vincent Kennedy McMahon and his company Titan Sports, Inc. The younger Vince, much to his father's initial concern, set out to make the WWF national and eventually worldwide in scope. "Had my father known what I was going to do," the younger McMahon told Sports Illustrated in 1991, "he never would have sold his stock to me."[5] The younger McMahon's competitive tactics were successful, and the WWF quickly became the most prominent exponents of "Sports Entertainment". Today, it is now known simply as WWE (having previously been named World Wrestling Federation). McMahon, Sr.'s grandchildren Shane McMahon and Stephanie McMahon have also worked for WWE, although Shane resigned his position in January 2010. Vincent J. McMahon was inducted in to the WWE Hall of Fame class of 1996 by his grandson Shane McMahon.

McMahon had two sons; Roderick McMahon III, and Vincent K. McMahon with his first wife Vicky H. Askew (born 1920) in 1945. McMahon married his second wife, Juanita W. Johnston (Born December. 20, 1916 - Died January. 19, 1998), and the couple lived in Fort Lauderdale.

According to many wrestlers & former employees, McMahon had the lifelong habit of carrying rolls of quarters and stacking them in his hand as a way of concentrating.

Unlike his son, McMahon, Sr. believed that the job of a promoter should be kept backstage or behind the scenes and should never interfere with the action in the ring. As a result McMahon almost never came down to the squared circle. He can however clearly be seen standing ringside during the infamous Madison Square Garden 'Alley Fight' between Sgt. Slaughter and Pat Patterson. Also unlike his son, McMahon, Sr. believed that wrestlers should remain wrestlers, and should not branch off in to other forms of media. He notably did not want Hulk Hogan to appear in Rocky III due to these beliefs. When his son Vince purchased the WWF, he felt differently than his father on the issue. He avidly supported wrestlers branching out in to other fields, as well as cross-promotions with various musicians, actors, and other personalities outside of wrestling.[3]